Simhat Torah follows the seventh day of Sukkot and is a day of rejoicing. On Simhat Torah, the year-long reading of the Torah comes to an end with the last few verses of the
Book of Deuteronomy and starts again with the first verses of the Book of Genesis. The scrolls of the Torah are taken from the Ark and carried around the synagogue in a procession that makes seven circuits around the sanctuary. After each circuit, there is singing and dancing with the scrolls. It is a celebration of great joy for having lived to complete the reading of the Torah for another year. In some Hasidic circles, there is wild dancing, as in this tale about the Ba’al Shem Tov and Rabbi Dov Baer (1710-1772).
Although the gates of the Garden were closed after Adam and Eve were expelled, there are quite a few visits to the Garden recounted in Jewish folklore, such as that of the Ba’al Shem Tov in this story. This shows how Jewish folktales draw on biblical themes and retell them, perpetuating the influence of the Bible in Jewish tradition.
The theme of leaves from the Garden of Eden is a popular one in Jewish folklore. See “The Spice of the Sabbath,” p. 316 and “Leaves from the Garden of Eden” in Gabriel’s Palace, pp. 134-135.
Sources:
Gan ha-Hasidut.
Studies:
A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice by Isaac Klein, pp. 170-173.
385. GOD REVELS IN THE READING OF THE HAGGADAH
On the night of Passover, while Jews around the world read from the Haggadah, God gathers His household together, and says, “Come and listen to the recital of My praises as My children rejoice in their redemption from slavery in Egypt.” And all of heaven assemble and hear Israel praise God for all the miracles He had performed.
Hearing these praises, God gains additional strength and power in the world above. Thus the children of Israel give strength to their Master, and His glory is exalted on high. That is why everyone must narrate the miracles and speak in God’s presence of all He has done, for these words ascend, and the celestial house takes note of them, and God’s glory is exalted both above and below.
On Passover it is a requirement to read from the Haggadah, which narrates the Exodus from Egyptian slavery. The Haggadah gives the credit for the Exodus to God, not even mentioning the name of Moses. This myth portrays God as reveling in the praises of Israel as they read from the Haggadah. It presents the kabbalistic concept of mutuality between God and Israel, where God does not only benefit Israel, but Israel’s praise and prayers benefit God, who is said to gain strength and power from them.
Sources:
Zohar 2:40b-41a.
Studies:
A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice by Isaac Klein, pp. 103-104.
386. THE DANCING OF THE ARI
Every Lag ba-Omer the Ari led his students to the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai in Meron. And there they danced at the resting place of the holy rabbi.
Now one Lag ba-Omer, an old man danced with them. He could be seen swaying at the outer edge of the circle, as if he were being carried on waves of song. He had a beautiful white beard and was dressed all in white, with a white prayer shawl covering his head. His eyes were closed, and his whole body radiated mystical glory.
All at once, the Ari took his hand and started dancing with him. A great light shone between them, a sacred radiance, like the light of many candles, tinged with blue and gold. All the students watched spellbound as the Ari and the old man danced.
Their dancing lasted for hours. It was well after midnight when they stopped, and the old man took his leave. Then the disciples of the Ari crowded around him to learn the identity of the old man. And he told them that it was none other than Shimon bar Yohai himself who had joined in the celebration.
On Lag ba-Omer campfires are lit all over Israel, but especially in the Galilee, in honor of Shimon bar Yohai. It was the custom of the Ari to go to the grave of Shimon bar Yohai in Meron to celebrate Lag ba-Omer. Here, while the Ari and his disciples dance and sing, they are joined by a mysterious old man, whom the Ari recognizes as Shimon bar Yohai. This tale links the greatness of the Ari and of Shimon bar Yohai, who are, in fact, the two primary sages associated with the Galilee. In this respect it is a kind of succession tale, showing that Shimon bar Yohai has selected the Ari to be his successor. This confirms the Ari’s importance to be equal to that of Shimon bar Yohai, legendary author of the Zohar as well as the principal hero of its tales. This tale and others about the circle of the Ari collected by the Israel Folktale Archives demonstrate that the tradition still exists in the city of Safed in present day Israel.
Sources:
IFA 13043.
Studies:
A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice by Isaac Klein, pp. 145-146.
387. THE WEDDING OF GOD AND THE SHEKHINAH
When they are first engaged, God sends His betrothed nuptial presents and a meal of celestial bread. So too does He make preparations for the wedding feast. On the eve of Shavuot, before the wedding takes place, the members of the heavenly household remain with the Bride all night, and rejoice in the preparations for the wedding. They study Torah, progressing from the Five Books of Moses to the Prophets, and from the Prophets to the Writings, and then to the midrashic and mystical interpretation of the text, for these are the adornments and finery of the Bride.
Throughout the night, the Bride rejoices with Her maidens and is made ready by them. And in the morning She enters the bridal canopy, illumined with the radiance of sapphire, which shines from one end of the world to the other. Shining in all Her finery, she awaits each of those who helped to prepare Her. And at the moment when the sun enters the bridal canopy and illumines Her, all Her companions are identified by name. And God inquires after them, and blesses them, and crowns them with bridal crowns, and blessed is their portion.
Then the Bridegroom enters the bridal canopy, and He offers the seven nuptial blessings and unites with His Bride, joining with the Queen in perfect union, and the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:2).
This Shavuot myth describes the wedding of God and the Shekhinah. Since Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, it is the appropriate time for the wedding of God and the Shekhinah. The night of Shavuot is traditionally devoted to Torah study, including study of the mystical texts, and here that study is identified as the adornments of the Bride. Thus the scholars who study on the night of Shavuot are identified here as members of the heavenly household who remain with the Bride all night and assist Her in preparing for the wedding.
The myth that follows, also a Shavuot myth, describes the wedding of God and Israel. Both versions are quite common, although the wedding of God and Israel, because of its appearance in the Sephardic Mahzor (holiday prayerbook), is the better-known myth.
Note, as well, a remnant of a sun myth—the entrance of the Bride of God into the bridal canopy is described in terms of the sun rising. Thus the Shekhinah is also linked to the sun, as well as to the moon. Other remnants of sun myths can be found in the transformation of Enoch into Metatron, where Metatron is described in terms identical to the sun.
Sources:
Zohar 1:8a; Or Zaru’a Ms. JTSA ff. 39b/54b.
Studies:
The Sabbath in Classical Kabbalah by Elliot K. Ginsburg.
388. THE WEDDING OF GOD AND ISRAEL
On Friday, the sixth of Sivan, the day appointed by the Lord for the revelation of the Torah to His beloved people, God came forth from Mount Sinai. The Groom, the Lord, the King of Hosts, is betrothed to the bride, the community of Israel, arrayed in beauty. The Bridegroom said to the pious and virtuous maiden, Israel, who had won His favor above all others: “Can there be a bridal canopy without a bride? As I live—declares the Lord—you shall don them all like jewels, deck yourself with them like a bride” (Isa. 49:18). Many days will you be Mine and I will be your Redeemer. Be My mate according to the law of Moses and Israel, and I will honor, support and maintain you, and be your shelter and refuge in everlasting mercy. And I will set aside the life-gi
ving Torah for you, by which you and your children will live in health and tranquility. This Covenant shall be valid and binding forever and ever.”
Thus an eternal Covenant, binding them forever, has been established between them, and the Bridegroom and the bride have given their oaths to carry it out. May the Bridegroom rejoice with the bride whom he Has taken as His lot, and may the bride rejoice with the Husband of her youth.
In the Talmud there is a brief description of the marriage of God and Israel: “The Groom, the Lord, the King of Hosts, is betrothed to the bride, the community of Israel, arrayed in beauty” (B. Pesahim 106a). Since all weddings are required to have a ketubah, a wedding contract, the present myth, “The Wedding of God and Israel” provides the wedding contract for that wedding. Its text serves as a hymn for Shavuot. This liturgical poem, found in the Sephardic prayer book for Shavuot, is based on the verses, “I will espouse you with righteousness and justice, and with goodness and mercy, and I will espouse you with faithfulness; then you shall be devoted to the Lord” (Hos. 2:21-22), and “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel” (Jer. 31:31).
The text of this ketubah is read on Shavuot, usually in Ladino, from the Sephardic holiday prayer book, or Mahzor. It describes the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai as the wedding between God and Israel that is indicated by the verse “See, a time is coming”—declares Yahweh—“when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah” (Jer. 31:31). Here God and Israel are personified as a Bridegroom and bride, and the Torah is presented as the ketubah, or wedding contract, between them. The marriage takes place on the sixth of Sivan, the holiday of Shavuot, when, traditionally, the Torah was said to have been given.
Here the wedding that takes place on the Sabbath is not between God and the Shekhinah; instead, it is between God and Israel, with the ketubah serving as the wedding contract between them. The fact that the wedding takes place on Shavuot demonstrates the linkage of the Torah, given on Shavuot, to this bond. It is the Torah that both affirms the Covenant between God and Israel and also binds them together. Indeed, the ketubah that is read symbolically represents the Torah in much the same way as do the Ten Commandments. This text can be viewed both mythologically as the wedding between God and Israel, and allegorically, suggesting that the Torah can be viewed as a contract between God and Israel in the same way that a ketubah serves as a contract between man and wife.
Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:12 states that it was Moses who wrote the ketubah between God and Israel, based on the verse And Moses wrote this Law (Deut. 31:9). God is said to have rewarded Moses for doing this by giving him a luminous countenance. As for the scroll that Moses wrote the ketubah on, the same source in Deuteronomy Rabbah describes it as made of a parchment of white fire, which was written on with black fire. Of course, this ketubah is none other than the scroll of the Torah itself.
It is important to observe that God is masculine and the Shekhinah, feminine. An interesting parallel is found in Greek myth, where Uranus, whose name came to mean “the sky,” is masculine, and Gaia, who is Mother Earth, is feminine. In both cases, the feminine goddess figures are linked to the earth: the Shekhinah represents God’s presence in this world, especially with the Temple in Jerusalem, and Gaia is, at the same time, the personification of the earth. The primary difference between them is that God’s Bride is an invisible, supernatural being, while Gaia represents not only a goddess, but also the life-sustaining earth. Both pairs of gods and goddesses associate the masculine with the heavens, and the feminine with the earth. See The Greek Myths by Robert Graves, 3.1.
God is portrayed as being wed to three different brides in various Jewish myths: to the Shekhinah (see “The Wedding of God and the Shekhinah, p. 304), to Israel (as recounted here), and, remarkably enough, to Lilith (see “Lilith Becomes God’s Bride,” p. 59). In most myths God is presented as being married to the Shekhinah.
Sources:
B. Pesahim 106a; Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:12;Pesikta Rabbati 31:10; Ketubah le-Shavuot from the Sephardic Mahzor, written by Israel Najara in the sixteenth century.
Studies:
A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice by Isaac Klein, pp. 147-153.
389. THE PARTING OF THE HEAVENS AT MIDNIGHT
It is said that at midnight, on the night of Shavuot, the skies part, and the glory of heaven is revealed. Then anyone who makes a wish at that instant will have that wish come true. That is why students stay up all night studying the Torah, so that they will be awake when the skies part, and be worthy of viewing God’s glory at that instant.
Just as the parting of the Red Sea is the key moment of the Exodus, celebrated at Passover, so the folk tradition of the parting of the heavens at midnight is linked with Shavuot (and sometimes Sukkot). The possibility of this miracle taking place is intended to motivate students to stay up all night studying. Shavuot represents the day the Torah was given, which was the defining moment in the history of Judaism. It was a kabbalistic custom to study the entire night of Shavuot. The text that is traditionally studied is the Zohar, the central text of Jewish mysticism, and the whole night of study is regarded as a ceremony of purification. The culmination of this ceremonial study is the revelation that takes place at the instant the skies open, revealing the glory of the Shekhinah to those worthy of seeing it. This miracle of the skies opening is also found as a theme in Jewish folklore, in which wishes are often made at the instant the skies open. These wishes, of course, always come true.
Sources:
IFA 4014; IFA 13901; B. Pesahim 106a; Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:12;Pesikta Rabbati 31:10; Ketubah le-Shavuot from the Sephardic Mahzor, written by Israel Najara in the sixteenth century.
390. THE CREATION OF THE SABBATH
The Sabbath was last to be created, but first in God’s mind. It was the culmination of all creation. Indeed, everything exists for the sake of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the source of all blessings. Before God gave the commandment of keeping the Sabbath to Israel, He said to Moses: “I have a good present in my secret chambers. The name of that present is ‘Sabbath.’ Go tell the people that I now wish to give that present to them.”
The Sabbath takes on even greater significance in this myth. It is more than a ritual day of rest, it is the original purpose of creation, itself a source of blessings. Here the Sabbath comes close to existing as an independent divine being, a goddess disguised as the seventh day.
The Sabbath is also presented as a gift taken out of God’s secret chambers. It is that precious. In both views the Sabbath is seen as the epitome of God’s blessings, as well as a reminder of how the world was created, and who created it.
Each of these interpretations fuses with the already potent symbol of the Sabbath and adds to its mythic aura.
Sources:
B. Shabbat 10b;Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, be-Shalah 133.
Studies:
The Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah by Elliot K. Ginsburg.
Sod ha-Shabbat (The Mystery of the Sabbath) from the Tola’at Ya’akov of R. Meir ibn Gabbai translated by Elliot K. Ginsburg.
A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice by Isaac Klein, pp. 53-94.
391. THE COSMIC SABBATH
There will be seven cosmic eons in all, each lasting seven thousand years. In the present era, God’s commandments are a necessity. But in the preceding eon there was neither desire nor reward and punishment, and a different law prevailed.
At the end of the sixth eon, on the eve of the cosmic Sabbath, light will swallow death and drive unclean spirits from the world. Then everyone, great and small, will know God by the light that emanates from the mystery of divine thought.
When the cosmic Sabbath begins, a new Torah will go forth, and a new cosmic law will prevail. Wisdom and knowledge will increase among men. The letters of the Torah will combine in a new way and take on a new meaning, but not a single letter will be added or taken away.
Each of the eras of existence is known as a Shemittah, an era lasting 7,000 ye
ars. The cosmic eras of this myth find their source in the story of the creation, in which the seventh day is a day of rest, as well as in the agricultural law also known as Shemittah in which fields must lie fallow every seventh year (Exod. 23:10-11; Lev. 25:1-7, 18-22; Deut. 15:1-11).
The Torah of the present era, known as the Torah of Creation, is different from that of the preceding or subsequent eras. The Torah of the past and future eras is known as the Torah of Divine Emanation. The suggestion that the Torah is somehow different in different eras echoes the idea that God will give a new Torah to Israel in the messianic era, which will be different from the present Torah.
Some versions of this myth insist, as does this one, that “not a single letter will be added or taken away.” On the other hand, the myth of the twenty-third letter of the Hebrew alphabet asserts that there was an additional, although invisible, twenty-third letter from the beginning. It will only be revealed in the messianic era, and that will be the genesis of the new Torah, which will be given through the Messiah as the Torah given at Mount Sinai was given to Moses. See “A New Torah,” p. 522.
Sources:
Sha’arei Gan Eden 12c; Sefer ha-Temunah 62a.
Studies:
On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism by Gershom Scholem, pp. 77-86.
392. THE BLESSINGS OF THE SABBATH
On this day the Torah is crowned with jewels, and adorned with seventy branches of light, which shine on each of the seventy faces of the Torah.
On this day the sound of rejoicing and delight is heard throughout the world, and pleasure and joy abound.
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